


Save the Day or Die Trying

by whatisreggieshortfor



Series: Pretend Pretenders [8]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:55:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27290812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatisreggieshortfor/pseuds/whatisreggieshortfor
Summary: Lily takes Reggie home with her. But Nick isn’t gonna let that slide.
Relationships: Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Nick/Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: Pretend Pretenders [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1989880
Comments: 31
Kudos: 127
Collections: Kelly's Picks





	Save the Day or Die Trying

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Wisegirl38](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wisegirl38/gifts).



Nick didn’t see Reggie the rest of that day. Or the next day. He went looking for Julie, but he couldn’t find her either. Nick was concerned, he had music with both of them and science with Reggie but neither showed. He eventually tracked Luke down in his way to practice. “Have you seen Reg or Julie?”

Luke blinked at the lack of greeting for a second before he looked worried, “You didn’t hear?”

“Hear what?” The concern in Nick’s stomach was growing. Luke pulled him into a side hallway, empty of other students.

“Reggie’s mom came back. She’s been fighting Ray for custody.” Nick was shocked. Reggie never said anything about his mom, and when he told them about moving in with Ray, he only mentioned his dad.

Nick called Reggie’s number without thinking, but Ray answered, and it sounded like he was crying. “ _Uh, hello? Nick? Are you alright?”_

“Mister Molina, Luke just told me what’s going on. Have you called my dads?”

“ _Your dads? Why would I call them? Aren’t they athletes?”_

“One is an athlete, the other is a corporate lawyer.” Nick answered, racing out to his car. “I’m gonna give him a call and see what we can do. Do you mind if we come by? He’ll want to talk to you.”

“ _Uh, yeah,”_ Nick could picture him glancing at Julie, “ _Yeah, that should be fine. You have the address.”_

“It’ll be okay.” Nick said, but he wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince himself or Ray. “It’ll be okay.” Nick hung up and immediately dialed his dad. “Dad! Are you busy?”

“ _I have a meeting in about an hour, but not right now.”_

“Can you reschedule? My friend has a family emergency and they really need your help.”

“ _Sure, son. I can meet you at the house and we’ll ride over together.”_

Nick got to the Molinas with his dad. Julie answered the door, and it was clear she was crying. She threw her arms around Nick’s neck. “Nick, she-she took him! She didn’t even pack his stuff! Not even his bass! She just dragged him out of the house!” She seemed to realize his dad was there a second later, “Oh, I’m so sorry. Hi, I’m Julie.”

“It’s okay. Who was taken?”

“My brother.” Julie’s lip wobbled and Nick hugged her again. Ray came to the door, ushering everyone inside.

“Uh, I would say nice to meet you any other time.” Ray wiped at his own eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m Ray Molina. Please call me Ray.”

“Ryan Carlson, you can just call me Ryan. Can you explain what happened?” Ray gestured for everyone to sit down.

“A couple months ago, I was awarded custody of a former friend’s son. His ex wife showed up three days ago, and she just forced him out of the house.” Ray’s voice cracked and Nick could see the tears pooling in his eyes as Julie continued to sob into his shoulder. “I tried to stop her but-“

“You know she’s going to hurt him, dad!” Julie choked out. “She used to lock him in a closet with porn playing!”

Nick’s dad jerked to look at her, “What?”

Julie nodded, “When he first came out as bisexual.” She sniffled. “She sent him to like three conversion camps, too.”

Mister Carlson’s brow furrowed, “That is beyond unethical. And illegal.” He started pulling paperwork out of his briefcase, “Ray, I’ll need your signature on these.”

“How much will this cost? Cause I’ll take out a second mortgage if I need to. We just want to bring him home.”

“No, it won’t cost anything.” Ryan assured him. “You are family friends.” Julie rushed forward and hugged him. When she pulled away he cleared his throat, “I have a judge friend, I can have an emergency order to have him pulled from the household. Do you have an address?”

“Uh, no, but I think she stays in the same house she used to.” Julie said. “We walked past it last week and I think Reggie saw her cause he freaked out.”

“Nick,” Ryan held out his keys, “I’ll call the judge now. You take Julie and get him out of there.” Julie was immediately up and grabbing her jacket, hugging his dad again. She bolted up the stairs, coming down with a very familiar flannel before they made it out the door.

“I’m sorry I slapped you, Nick.” Julie whispered as they climbed into the car. She fiddled with Reggie’s flannel in her lap.

“I deserved it.” Nick answered. “Let’s just get him back.”

She nodded, directed him where to go, “Did you mean it?”

“No, I never meant to yell at him.”

“No, did you mean the song?” Julie looked over at Nick in the dying sunlight.

“Yeah.” He answered, his voice soft and vulnerable. “I had a crush on him before the day he wore my hoodie. And it got worse as he pretended to be my boyfriend. I wanted him to be my real one, but it wasn’t that for him so I tried to push him away. And I ended up yelling at him.”

“He wanted it to be more.” Julie whispered, and Nick knew she didn’t think she should tell him.

“I know. I was going to apologize the day I sang the song. And ask him out for real, but then I couldn’t find you guys. Now I know why.” Nick sighed, gripping his steering wheel. His phone rang, “Dad?”

_ ”Hey, son. Judge came through, and we checked her legal address. Ray is texting it to Julie.” _

”Thanks, dad.” Nick hung up, and Julie directed him to the house that belonged to the address.

As soon as they parked the car, they heard glass shattering. Nick was out of his seat and at the door within the blink of an eye, forcing the door open. “Reggie!” He called out. A dark haired woman appeared from around the corner of the hall.

”Who the hell are you?” She snapped, before looking back down the hall and chucking the glass she had in her hand, still full of what appeared to be whiskey.

”I’m here to take Reggie home.” Nick felt Julie behind him, but he kept her behind his back.

”You can’t take him. He’s my son.”

”No, you lost that right the day you abused him.” Nick gently pushed Julie out the door. She’d hate him for it, but he locked her out. She needed to stay safe. Nick started forward, pushing past the woman and heading down the hall, “Reggie!” He called out again, stopping as he heard a noise behind the door beside him. He opened the closet, to find Reggie covering his ears, a deep gash in the side of his face. “Reg.” He dropped down, scooping him up. Lily fought him, Nick wasn’t surprised. He set Reggie as carefully as he could on the couch, but Lily was beating her fists into his back screaming that Reggie was hers and she was going to cure him. Nick managed to get the door unlocked, he scooped Reggie back up and carried him to the car. Julie opened the passenger door and Nick got him inside, right as Lily threw another glass. Nick turned as it went flying through the air, he covered Julie and the glass smashed against the side of his head. “Fuck!” He yelled as he grabbed his head. His hand came back wet with blood. “Julie, can you drive?”

”Technically I have a learner’s permit.”

”It’ll have to be good enough for now.” He handed her the keys, hurrying her into the car as he got in the back. Julie sped away, driving back to her dad’s. Reggie had yet to zone back in.


End file.
